The History of Genocide (3 cr)
Mark Roseman
HIST-W 335 (22335)
TR 1:10-2:25 (Woodburn 106)
CASE S&H; CASE GCC
Genocide is not the violent clash of professional or volunteer armies, but the extermination by the powerful of the powerless. This course asks what in different times and places has driven leaders, states and groups to pursue such horrific policies. What is it like to be the victim -- and or the survivor - of genocidal regimes?
The course also asks if genocide is inherently modern. There is some evidence for genocides n ancient times. Yet genocide as a term was invented only in 1944, as the full dimensions of the Holocaust were becoming clear to the outside world. This course explores the origins and development of the concept of genocide as historical, legal and political category, comparing it with other concepts of mass violence. It also examines the remembering and forgetting that is at the heart of genocide.
Readings are taken from: Naimark, Genocide : A World History; Bloxham and Moses, The Oxford Handbook of Genocide Studies, and a few other sources.
Assessment: 10-12 page research paper, some smaller writing exercises and a take home exam
